The leading Democratic candidates last night said that USA withdrawal from Iraq may not even be complete by 2013.
I'm not kidding
We need a third party. My party isn't doing it.
Update: Jeffrey Feldman offers his insight on how the top3 candidates are looking at Iraq these days. Unfortunately I think he's right.
The death toll in Iraq continues. Three thousand, seven hundred and thirty two American lives have been lost in Iraq to date.
And we are spending about $12B per month financing this war. Imagine where this money should be going.
And our president is now comparing Iraq to Vietnam. Only he is making the case that the problem with Vietnam is that the US left that war too early.
I was telling Lauren tonight that if we had a child in the armed forces in Iraq right now I probably would be go insane. Support our troops. Bring them home.
"Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term" - from the NYT today.
"I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with youBut I still haven't found what I'm looking for"
-- U2
I still haven't found my next presidential candidate.
I need a candidate that isn't afraid to say that Iraq was a mistake
I need a candidate that is pro-choice
I need a candidate that is pro stem cell research
I need a candidate that is pro-gun control
I need a candidate that has a plan to fix our health care system
I need a candidate that cares about the environment
I need a candidate that will treat our educators with respect
And I need a candidate that is fiscally responsible
I guess I'm hoping Al Gore jumps into this race
I suppose I still have time to make up my mind
In the meantime, I'm happy that Comedy Central has created Indecision2008.com. It helps me smile through my endless frustration about the status quo.
I love Stephen Colbert. That guy is a hilarious. His take on Mayor Bloomberg
I'm just catching up on one of my favorite web shows,TPMtv on Veracifer.
Last week Josh sat down with Al Franken. Al is the man. Nice job Josh. Here is part 1.
If you like this one be sure to check out part 2.
(disclosure: Veracifier is part of the NNN family and we are investors in the company)
I've received a fair amount of emails in response to some of my recent politcal posts. I appreciate all of them. I do wish those folks would comment on my blog vs email but that topic is for another day One thing I want to make quite clear. This is my personal blog. And my political views are just that - personal. They don't reflect the views of my firm, spark capital or my partners etc. And I'm not influenced whatsoever by the political orientation of the entrpreneurs that come into my office. I'm sure many of my friends on "both sides of the aisle" would agree with this. Peace :) (Pls excuse any typos, sent from my blackberry)
This is a follow up to my earlier post on the subject
I'm on a plane flying from boston to sf right now. I'm reading the nyt and cannot tell you how bummed I am with my democratic party. (I'm writing this on my blackberry so can't provide any links at the moment)
Two very troubling stories
-democrats have decided to remove a troop withdrawal deadline from the iraq war spending bill. The only folks that seems furious are a few freshman congressmen and good old senator russ feingold (readers of this blog know I'm a huge fan of sen feingold). Thanksfully, Speaker Pelosi also said she wouldn't support this. See page 1.
-the other news in the nyt today is that the democrats, who are now in charge of the House, are not willing to take on tough ethics changes so badly needed and part of the reason why dems were elected in the first place in the midterms. Also page 1.
I'm sick about this.
I'm a democrat. I've been active in various elections and less so in others.
But it's harder and harder to stay on the team.
Sometimes my party feels like republican-lite.
My friend Jason sent me a link to the current article running in the Nation called Hillary Inc.
Worth reading the full piece if you are a struggling democrat looking for a 2008 candidate.
I've copied the first few paragraphs here for your easy reading
In a packed ballroom in midtown Manhattan, Hillary Clinton is addressing hundreds of civil rights activists and labor leaders convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton for his annual National Action Network conference. The junior senator from New York starts slowly but picks up steam when she hits on the economic anxiety many in the room feel. "We're not making progress," she says, her sharp Midwestern monotone accented with a bit of Southern twang. "Wages are flat." Nods of agreement. "This economy is not working!" Applause. She's not quite the rhetorical populist her husband was on the campaign trail, but she can still feel your pain. "Everything has been skewed," Clinton says, jabbing her index finger for emphasis, "to help the privileged and the powerful at the expense of everybody else!"
It's a rousing speech, though ultimately not very convincing. If Clinton really wanted to curtail the influence of the powerful, she might start with the advisers to her own campaign, who represent some of the weightiest interests in corporate America. Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, not only polls for America's biggest companies but also runs one of the world's premier PR agencies. A bevy of current and former Hillary advisers, including her communications guru, Howard Wolfson, are linked to a prominent lobbying and PR firm--the Glover Park Group--that has cozied up to the pharmaceutical industry and Rupert Murdoch. Her fundraiser in chief, Terry McAuliffe, has the priciest Rolodex in Washington, luring high-rolling contributors to Clinton's campaign. Her husband, since leaving the presidency, has made millions giving speeches and counsel to investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. They house, in addition to other Wall Street firms, the Clintons' closest economic advisers, such as Bob Rubin and Roger Altman, whose DC brain trust, the Hamilton Project, is Clinton's economic team in waiting. Even the liberal in her camp, former deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, has lobbied for the telecom and healthcare industries, including a for-profit nursing home association indicted in Texas for improperly funneling money to disgraced former House majority leader Tom DeLay. "She's got a deeper bench of big money and corporate supporters than her competitors," says Eli Attie, a former speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. Not only is Hillary more reliant on large donations and corporate money than her Democratic rivals, but advisers in her inner circle are closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives, conservative media and other Democratic Party antagonists.
Senator Obama recently joined Twitter following Edwards.
I added him to my network and now following his updates.
I like that he's making statements on twitter instead of just light updates about his whereabouts. I hope he keeps it up.
The NYT op-ed piece today calls out President Bush and the White House on their past and present attacks on those against the war in Iraq.
In particular, the President was even nastier than usual in his recent attacks against citizens against the war. The latest Bush attack cites that people against the war whose children are at risk are too "emotional" to judge things clearly. Ridiculous.
This is making me sick.
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